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Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

Seriously, this is not an office complex. Apparently sporting events are conducted here. And tax preparation.

Seriously, the first and only time that I went to Arco Arena....that is the SAME EXACT thought that I had when I saw Arco Arena. It's like they play in an office park. The Maloofs must rent out the Arco Arena during the daytime for office space to companies.

Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

This is David West, he is the Honey Badger, West just doesn't give a *****....he's pretty bad *ss cuz he has no regard for any other Player or Team whatsoever.

Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

Denari put Pacero on, and Gnome and I as well.

AWESOME NIGHT! You guys have no idea.

We come down to our seats, which are front row center behind the scorers table. We are sitting directly behind Boyle, AC and their sound guy. Just next to us is some random Pacers fan. Nice enough but quiet.

And then....in comes 4 drunk, rowdy dudes from Fresno that are big time Pacers fans. One was a fan prior to PG, the other went to Fresno and is a PG/Pacers fans and their two buddies love the NBA were full on board for cheering for the Pacers. They IMMEDIATELY start taunting the Kings during the pre-game shooting lines. Loudly. Annoyingly even.

I say to Gnome "these guys will be kicked out by halftime".

Gnome and I are drinking so as the first quarter wears on we are getting more into the groove of the Fresno 4.

At halftime I go up to hit the head and as I am coming out who do I run into? El Pacero. I thought he was only doing the GSW game but here he is. We start talking, we are loving the game so far and I start telling him about the Fresno 4. No sooner do I do that then a couple of them walk into the restroom and we all start talking. Meanwhile random pro-Indy people pass through too and it's a full-on love fest. I mean more Pacers love than you get at home games.

So one of the Fresno 4 takes Gnome and I to the liquor stand and buys shots for me, Gnome, himself and his buddy. Had we kept Pacero with us he would have bought him a shot too. By now we are really in full-on Pacers love mode and even I'm getting rowdy.

We get back just at the start of the 2nd half and everyone is getting really loud, even me. Boyle comments about how loud we are getting and people tweet that you can here the guys behind us and it sounds like Ric Flair....because they are intentionally doing the Ric Flair "wooo" and then yelling Ric Flair.

They also yell at every single Pacer including Vogel and Shaw. "Shaw, assistant coach of the year" and "Vogel, you're the man, give it to West". Everytime Danny comes over these guys are yelling to him and he's talking to them and all of us. At one point he gives both Gnome and I a fist bump. Danny takes a picture with one of them after the game. It's just epic, full interaction.

When they buy us beers during the 3rd we are all best friends and you have 8 rowdy Pacers fans in the first 2 rows of center court that are louder than half the stadium. It's crazy, it's better than a home game. When David has 15 at the half I say "he's going for 30" and we all agree this is a probable outcome and a good thing to cheer for. So every touch he gets we are getting more and more into it. By the time they are feeding him near the 30 point level we are standing and yelling. For the final minute of the game an usher comes down and tells us to sit down so Kings fans can see their offensive end. It's that kind of scene, the kind of situation I would hate if it were happening in the Fieldhouse, but I'm drunk and screw them.

(Having said that, the Kings staff and fans were extremely pleasant, wonderfully positive and interactive with us, even the fan next to me that was having to put up with most of it)

It seems like most of you couldn't see how rowdy we were getting during the broadcast, but I assure you it was borderline offensive to the hometown fans due to our loud exuberance. The Fresno 4 were great catalysts and actually smart, serious fans despite being lit up. We never felt like the game was out of hand, we never got very upset. It was really just positive and "expressive".

I apologize to Boyle and AC, and Gnome tweeted that to MB himself in fact. But on the other hand, what a great way to experience a road win, with a real mini-A55 there to push them and with the players acknowledging it. Glad to know that they know we are there.

The Fresno 4 invited us out for drinks but Gnome and I decided we were too drunk already to handle that. But a couple of them are trying to work a plan to come visit Indy and we told them we'd set them up. Contact info exchanged and Pacers Nation gets tighter than ever.

Another crazy thing is that we stopped at In and Out before the game and who do we run into? Freaking Rob Johnson, Orlando's brother, the one that took care of him after he lost his mother and grandmother. Super nice guy, just great. Before we left I made sure to tell him how impressive it was that he took OJ under his wing and that we all admired his effort (and his other brother's). OJ was dressed but obviously didn't get to play, but maybe tomorrow night. Rob said he's going to Oakland so maybe it will work out.

Oh, another PS - Danny came out onto the concourse where Gnome, me, Pacers, SportsGirl, etc were talking. He again exchanged some friendly comments with us. Easy for him to just brush us off but he responded to all our comments and was really interactive. Just outstanding. There were lots of "we need you back", but I was quick to throw in the "but don't rush it, seriously". At one point he was kinda serious about it and said he really wouldn't rush it.

Great night for a Pacers fan, one of my top 5 Pacers game experiences ever, and I've been to a lot of them.

Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

Please, someone get something going. And can someone get Roy off the skids?

Paul's about to win this thing (well, Hill and West are, but PG is in-bounding for the win at least)

Sam about to share his thoughts on the nice night he had

Danny gives some love to Franscisco of the Fresno 4

The winning formula, Gnome, Pacero, Nap and the BAMF jersey. It's taken years to figure out the perfect good luck combo, but we might have found it finally.
No pressure on CableKC, but if they lose tomorrow it's totally your fault.

Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

I gotta say I was pretty pumped about the shout out to PD!

And it was cool to see what Naptown and Gnome look like as I have never met any of you guys... Naptown was my favorite poster from back in the day on the Indystar boards so I was especially curious what you looked like... I've got to admit that you don't appear to be as nerdy as what I had you pictured looking like in my head :P

The Following User Says Thank You to J7F For This Useful Post:

Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

Hey Hollywood, great to see you guys on TV and enjoying the Pacer games! It looks like you had a lot of fun. When we need a big win we know where to send you guys! Your our good luck charm!

Lisa, Gnome owes you big-time for babysitting him in CA! Thanks for sharing your pics! Maybe Mr. RWB can quit being a tight @ss and take me on a road swing. Got Rascal Flatts tickets - third row from him so there is still hope! LOL.

Lisa - Mrs. RWB.

.

Banner City... From the gift shop all the way to stuff in the arena bowl you'd be hard pressed to find anything that says 2 other major league teams play in this building. The gift shop was beyond pathetic when it came to finding LA Kings or LA Clippers gear. The actual gift shop employee told me there was more across the street at the ESPN Zone.

This photo of Lisa (my wife) and myself was taken by Area55 member @indysportsgirl. It was really nice to meet here along with Justin Beck and his Aussie crew.

Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

Awesome stuff guys. The Kings facility is probably the weirdest sports venue I've ever seen. It looks more like a small community college building than a basketball arena.

I have to say that inside is small, but in a basketball-specific arena kind of way. Baseline seats are tight to the court, the slope away is modestly vertical so the seats stay closer to the floor. There are only 2 levels with suites in between so "upper level" isn't that high up really.

The lower bowl has WOOD flooring for the most part, as in polished wood. It's extremely worn down, but in a Wrigley Field kinda way that feels old but quaint. They have this brass rail theme going for the suites and the upper level "boxes" (first 2 rows in upper level) this is kinda odd but with some charm.

I have some concourse pictures that I'll post later, but bottom line is that it's moderately well Kings branded with lots of purple and black. I also liked the restroom layout which featured a glass block wall at the entrance and good spacing.

So it is small and old and it definitely lacks the exterior presence of an "event" arena, but it's kinda lovable. I'd much rather see another game in Sleepytime than in Target. And I can imagine that when it was first built it was a pretty sweet deal.

VERY FRIENDLY STAFF all around. Lots of friendly, welcoming fans. Lots of people came up and asked if we were from Indy and were genuinely happy that we'd made the trip. Food prices were also reasonable. And it would seem like getting to, in and out of the arena would flow well even on a busy night.

It does lose points for being in a weird suburb apartment complex area instead of connected to same part of the city.

Create an ignore list. I know it may seem unneighborly. But you're here to talk about the Pacers, not argue with someone who's just looking for an argument. Most of the regular users on here make use (at least occasionally) of the "Ignore" feature. Just go to "Settings" -> "Edit Ignore List" and add the names.